JOSEPHINE COUNTY, Ore. — A man killed the mother of his children as well as their three children before turning the gun on himself inside a home near Grants Pass Monday, according to Oregon State Police.

Now investigators are trying to put the pieces together to learn what lead up to the crime.

It was Josephine County Sheriff’s Office who arrived on the scene at Hussey Lane calling in Oregon State Police after discovering the bodies of the two adults and three children between the ages of seven and 11 — dead from apparent gunshot wounds.

“This is certainly one of the most unfortunate situations that I’ve ever seen,” said Josephine County Sheriff Dave Daniel.

The Sheriff’s Office says they were responding to a welfare check after a woman in the home didn’t show up for work Monday.

It’s a scene Sheriff Daniel says his deputies are struggling to come to terms with.

“I’m not going to take away from the family and the friends of the deceased. I feel for them, our hearts go out for them. But there’s also collateral damage here. And my focus right now is to take care of our people. You see it obviously on the world news, you know, national news every day. Unfortunately, it just came to a theater near us,” Daniel said.

The Sheriff’s Office is now taking a collaborative approach with Oregon State Police leading the investigation, with assistance from the Grants Pass Police Department.

Anyone with information on the incident is asked to call Oregon State Police at 800-442-0776 or OSP (677) and reference case number SP25-366471.